Albert Seibel

Persondata
NAME=Seibel, Albert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Viticulturist
DATE OF BIRTH=1844
PLACE OF BIRTH=Aubenas, Ardèche, France
DATE OF DEATH=1936
PLACE OF DEATH=

Infobox_Scientist
name = Albert Seibel


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birth_date = 1844
birth_place = Aubenas, Ardèche, France
death_date = 1936
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citizenship = French
nationality = French
ethnicity =
field = Viticulture
work_institution =
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doctoral_students =
known_for = Breeding the Seibel series of hybrid grapevines
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Albert Seibel (1844-1936) was a French physician and viticulturist who made hybrid crosses of European wine grapes ("Vitis vinifera") with native North American grapes. His crosses are known as Seibel grapes.

Biography

Seibel was born in Aubenas in the Ardeche in 1844.

In 1895, he founded a school to teach grafting methods.

He died in 1936.

Breeding programme

In the 1860s the Phylloxera plague cut European wine production by more than two-thirds. [ [http://www.weekendwinery.com/wineryinsight/Article_Aug04.htm Rice, Timothy O. (August 2004) "The Phylloxera Plague" "Winery Insight" ] ] As the pest originated in the New World, crossing American stock with European "Vitis vinifera" varieties was one of the promising attempts to contain the disaster. The vines produced by this hybridization did not necessarily produce better wines, but did produce vine stock that could better survive Phylloxera attacks.

Seibel and his company produced over 16,000 new hybrids, with nearly 500 varieties that were then grown commercially. He often used as a female parent the hybrid Jaeger 70, a cross between "Vitis lincecumii" and "Vitis rupestris" produced by Hermann Jaeger. Some of the most famous Seibel grapes are Aurore (Seibel 5279), Chancellor (Seibel 7053), Chelois (Seibel 10878), De Chaunac (Seibel 9549) and Vidal Blanc (Vidal 256).

His grapes were widely planted in France and Brazil [ [http://books.google.co.uk/books?vid=ISBN8585578467 Pacheco, Aristides de Oliveira (1995) "Iniciação à enologia" Ed. SENAC, São Paulo, Brazil, ISBN 8585578467 ] ;] . However, other than in countries such as Canada where traditional wine grapes grow poorly, Seibel grapes have fallen from favour in recent years owing to the quality of the wine they make.

References

::"This article is based in part on material from the German Wikipedia".
* [http://www.epicurious.com/tools/winedictionary/entry?id=7971 Seibel, Albert Definition in the Wine Dictionary at Epicurious.com] accessed 4 October 2007;
* Paul, Harry W. (2002) "Science, Vine and Wine in Modern France" Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 103-104, ISBN 0521525217

ee also

*Seibel grapes
*Oenology

*Vineyard
*Phylloxera
*List of wine personalities